Kentucky Fried Litter

Some people like to read on trains, others like to watch videos, fill in their spreadsheets, catch up with their marking or, like me, stare out of the window. In the countryside you often get an unrivalled view of the scenery, the trip up the North Sea coast to Edinburgh being a particular favourite, but in towns and cities you literally see another side to life. Apart from when the train passes through a station, all the buildings are facing the other way and you get to see the back gardens, back alleys, fire escapes and car parks. In particular, you get to see the dark side of the supermarkets, the side where the litter collects. You can easily tell which is the biggest supermarket in town by the predominant colour of the litter. Blue and white for Tesco, orange for Sainsbury's and yellow and black for Morrisons. We're beyond the reach of Waitrose,  but I bet they've got a distinctive colour scheme too.

Now a few weeks ago there was much excitement in Scarborough. Not shared by me but excitement all the less. We were going to join much of the rest of the world in being able to sample, if not enjoy, Colonel Sanders' famous fried chicken. Kentucky Fried Chicken were coming to town.

Outside my local newsagents

And lo and behold if a new colour hasn't  been added to the litter-erary scene, and what a synthetically horrible one it is. I once dared to try a bubblegum flavoured slush in Malta and it was exactly this colour. Hence the slight feeling of nausea.

Up on Oliver's Mount

Now if you read more than a few of my posts you'll know that I do tend to go on a bit about public health. My focus is usually on the output side, on how physically active people are or ought to be, rather than on the input side, which is what they put in their mouths. As a seaside town that caters for people on a budget there are already lots of fast food outlets (the fish and chips are usually very good but more than once a month is more than enough) and so I find it hard to believe that adding yet another will bring much real public benefit. 

You may or may not be pleased to know that the much awaited KFC has been temporarily closed down while it figures out how to stop the smell going where it isn't welcome. Meanwhile the cultural pressures to lead a sedentary life carry on unabated.

A young man learning how to sit.